First-time buyer deposit increases to £30,000

3rd July 2015

First-time buyers counted for nearly half of all mortgaged property purchases bought this year but had to put down an average of £29,894 as a deposit.

A total of 47%, or 139,500, of properties bought with a mortgage were purchased by first-time buyers in the first six months of the year compared to 38% in 2011. However, it is a drop from the 149,500 first-time buyer sales registered in the first half of 2014, according to figures from Halifax.

The average first-time buyer put down £29,894 as a deposit this year, up 6% since last year’s £28,191 reflects a house price increases over the past 12 months.

However, the changes to the stamp duty system have meant first-time buyers have saved £716 on average. The average first-time buyer home costs £178,370 and the stamp duty has reduced from £1,783 to £1,067 and for those buying in London the reductions are even bigger; the average first-time buyer pays £342,313 to live in the capital and has seen stamp duty fall from £10,269 to £7,115 – a saving of £3,154.

Craig McKinlay, mortgages director at Halifax, said: ‘There was a modest decline in the number of first-time buyers in the first half of the year following the substantial increases recorded in 2013 and 2014.

‘This fall has been in line with a general softening in market activity. However, there are now signs of a pick-up in mortgage activity as the economy continues to recover and mortgage interest rates remain at very low levels. These factors could boost the number of first-time buyers during the second half of the year.’